What Do You Practice?

Our group practices the Filipino martial art of kali and the Indonesian martial art of silat. Check out the About Kali and About Silat pages for more specifics about those arts.

Where and When?

We currently meet every Monday night from 7-8pm at:

American Top Team Welcome Mat In the Homefield Olathe building at: 2115 E Kansas City Rd, Olathe, KS 66061 Phone: (913) 353-5858 Email: info@welcomemattrainingcenter.com

How Much Does It Cost?

Welcome Mat currently offers unlimited classes and gym access for $85/mo. or single classes for $15 per attendance. So, if you only wanted to come to our class, it would be about $60/mo. There are no contracts of any kind.

Who Can Come?

Both kali and silat are tribal/family arts and, as a result, take into account a wide variety of ages and fitness levels and assume no starting experience.

Having said that, these are extremely combative martial arts that also involve weapon use and may not be an ideal choice for small children. On the other side of the scale, there are many kali and silat practitioners who train well into their elder years, but these are still martial arts that are very physical, so know when you need to take a breather, and it may be a good idea to check with your physician before starting martial arts training.

Do You Spar?

Yes. You can't learn to fight without fighting, and you don't know what you can realistically do until you test it. We gradually bring someone into sparring as their skills improve and gradually increase the intensity. We recognize that not everyone will be as into sparring as others, but everyone needs it to be some part of their training.

Drills and "forms" are also useful in building skill and knowledge and at least some of them can be practiced without a partner, so those are a part of our learning as well.

Do You Teach Any Religion or Spirituality?

No. People of all religions and no religion are welcome to train with us without worrying about participating in any spiritually-oriented practices or being solicited to follow a religion.

We do take the standpoint that violence is to be avoided whenever possible and almost any other solution to conflict is preferable. Also, we do talk about broader applications to life of our arts and how to become better people as well as better fighters, and in talking about those things, a given person may connect that with their spiritual tradition. The instructor is Christian.

Do You Have Belts or a Ranking System?

Not currently. We do have a progression through material, but different people come into that progression at different times. Right now, we do not associate those stages with any colors or belts or anything. We might, someday, if that adds value to what we're doing. Right now, we just have "more senior" and "less senior" people, and your rank depends on who shows up that night.

Do You Compete in Tournaments?

Not as a group. Individuals are welcome to find tournaments that might allow them to compete in weapon forms or sparring with what they know. We're not necessarily anti-tournament; it's just hard to fit that in to kali and silat in America.